The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-05-13
The CONVENTION CLOSED
DISTRICT GRAND LODGE, B,NAI
BIRTH, WINDS UP
It's Business aud Adjourns Sine Die
The Way IL Came
About.

N n SHiOt OIhnu hDORo NO. 4, i. ",
9 b, closed it's sessions last night, aft
' wrestling with the endowment Que
!. ZION the better pait OF the day. linn
. uitely after the opening, at 10 o'clo,
. a m :, Henry Strauss, of Jackson, Mis-
who has voted against the $50 asses
j ment, startled the delegates by an NJ
qualified change OF sentiment. N
Holland, Of Marshall, Tex, went tn
/ same way, and d. Goshn threw tn
convention into dismsy by moyin
t. at 1t be made unanimous. The re
POI was then eontin ued, and the fol
loving section provoked brief but AMI
mated discussion:
SEousN 3. All PARTICIPANTS IN The 500
endowment shall pay Assessments as fol
| lows, to wit: Members under the age O
thirty -three years shall pay SIC per annum
Members over the age o. thifty.three and un,
der forty sve years shall pay sls per annpm,
the age Of forty hve yeas shall pay $40 per
annum, that Is 10 say, " hen the raid mem.
bers assessed at SIC shall roach tho ago Of
thirty; three they hall nay SIC per annum,
the age Of forty Ave shall pay so per annu IN
Mr.. Mohr submitted the lowiug
amendment: "From the age Of TWEEN.
ty-one to thirty, $40 per $1,000; from
thirty to forty, $l8 per $1,000; from
forty years and upward, $40 per $1,000 +"
The Rev. A. Suhler, OF Waco, Tex :,
and Delegate s. p. MetzSer, OF Vicks-
burg, opposed section 3 as reported by
the committee.
Joseph Hirsch, Of Vicksburg, led
the debate In favor Of the adoption of
the committees report, press nting
number OF reasons msintainingsthe
wisdom and policy Of the plan. He
argued that lhe rates suggested were
in line with the thought of the best
insurance minds ( the country, that
the test of age and the discrimination
in favor of youth WAS in conformity
with the lava OF nature and the nc.
cepte policy of all we'll regu ated in
surance companies He admitted the
truth and force of the point advanced
that there WAS an apparent discfimina-
ton in favor OF young men about 10
come in, by charging them only Sl6
per $1,000 when the yonng men now
In the order pay $40. Bat he
insisted that the discrimina-
ton was forced upon the order by
the exigenoies OF the situation, that
the young blood was taxed to give
vigor and life to the old. This was an
incubus OF which he desired 10 relieve
prospective membera Let the new
men, II any offer themselves, come In
on fair and equitable basis, and let
us elevate the order above any mere
insurance status and thrust into
prominence the nobler features of the |
order, the support OF the Touro In |
Urinary, the Cleveland Asylum, the
Widows and Orphans Home, OF New
Orleans, and the dissemination OF the
principles Of benevoiencs. bro herly
love and harmony. The time Is com.
Ing, predicted the speaker, when these
co operative endowment associations
would collapse and become a stencil
in the nostrils of the people, as was
the Case with the late matrimonial as.
B'Dsi Birth had taken
time by the forelock and placed Its sys-
tenn on q ssfe basia, but 1t might BIZ as
we'll now to begin and disseminate the
idea that the hfe insurance ia q mere
incident in the order OF B'nai Birth,
and not the sole purpose of the organ.
izatioD, as seems to be the prevailing
opinion. The speaker alec made the |
point that as the order had succeeded
n raising even so seIfsn a motive as
lie insurance above the plane OF sordid
peCulation, that there was ground
or hope that its treatment of higher
,bj scts would be equally successful,
md that with the. insurance problem
disposed OF and out OF the way, the
,roer might march on to the achieve
merit Of those higher purposes for
which 1t was organic u. Hence
t was polite and wise to induce
he infux of new blood by offer
ng them tomeihing letter than
mere iasurance The sppa, ent dis
against young men now
n the order Is due to the fact that the
after are pledged to make ths old en-
lowment safv. Prospective or future
members are not ssddled with this
obligation, and 1t was TO enable them
o come in on cheap basis that the
900 endowment was created. The
onditions are entirely changed. The
Nd order of things has been provided
or Those who come Ia hereafter
viii not be required, ss young men in
he order, to pay for the errors OF the
asst. 1t would not be f.ir nor Just
or equitable to expect them to do 80.
.et them come in uEder such terms
8 are warranted by the. conditions
resented and the situation that con-
ronts them. This being conceded as
air, II follows that the report OF the
based as 1t is upon that
heory, should prevail.
Delegate DAvis, Of Dallas, Tex; B.
OF Shreveport, La; Moses
ieyer, OF AL xaudria, La. John
of Houston, Tex. d. Cos
n, Of Dallas, Tex, spoke in opposl-
on 10 the eeCtion.
Delegate Nat Strauss, of Mobile;
nd Lso N. Levi, Of Galveston; Sam
Ilmsn, of Birmingham Sam Hirsch,
Memphis, all took the floor in sup.
ort OF section 3, as reported by the !
The committee at this stage OF the ]
isCussion withdrew the section ss re-
orted and substituted the following,
hich was adopted by vote OF 81 10
): "Ssction g. The bent fit as to fu- !
re members under the age OF 40 10
3 $1,000 and the assessment to be
xed at 500"
The settling Of this question put the I
invention in tide water, and they
spatched the remaining business In {
tort order. .
Toe proposition to hold biennial
ssionB was defeated. e
The report OF the Finance Commit
e ,showlng the condition OF the books,
as adopted. 1t paid Just tribute to
10 faithful and accurate method by
hich they are kept and the absolute